There are several home renovations that you can do in your home that will make a statement. One of them for certain is your choice of flooring. No matter what you choose when initiating a flooring renovation in your home makes sure that the change reflects your family and lifestyle. Taking these things into consideration allows you to have flooring that will with stand the beating your family will put the floor through and will make sure that you love the look of it because it will be with you, hopefully, for an extended periods of time.
Flooring can be a good chunk of a room renovation. It is advisable that if you have the money you complete all flooring renovations when you purchase your home before you move into it. This type of renovation becomes much more of a hassle as you live in your home and accumulate the goods a household does over time.
There are so many types of flooring available today how do you choose? This is all personal preference. Look at what is the most important item to you when looking into this renovation. Are you worried about function? Do you need the flooring to last forever? Are you looking for something comfy to be under foot? Would you like something more modern? Are you concerned with resale? All these things will help you narrow down your choice in flooring materials.
Option With Flooring and Benefits and Drawbacks
Laminate flooring is a great option for families with small children and pets. It is the same look as hardwood without the expense and upkeep. You don’t have to worry about the moisture and scuffing that happens with real hardwood. Laminate is maintenance easy too. If you sweep and mop regularly you will avoid the dirt lying around to scratch the laminate. Of course there are consumers who don’t like faux material. If you are in the market to sell you might choose a different material to appeal to the masses. It is definitely possible upon inspection to tell that laminate is laminate not hardwood. This could be a disadvantage for some people.
Hardwood flooring is a very versatile well liked material to use in flooring renovations. In is incredibly valuable to the resale of your home, easy to repair and can be maintained fairly easy. It is a material that will stand the test of time. However, it is expensive to purchase and if you have animals be careful because their nails will scratch the surface. Hardwood floors are also not the best place to sit and get comfortable so make sure if you have wood floors in your living space and small children get ready to purchase a throw rug.
Cork flooring is good for homes that the subfloor is uneven as it is easy to be installed on all types of surfaces. It is an all natural material and fits within the ethical flooring range. It holds sound well and is a perfect material to use as an insulator. Disadvantages include that it does require maintenance. If you don’t seal the cork flooring every five years it can lose its waterproof quality and can also be stained more easily then if treated. Sharp objects can puncture the seal so that is also something to consider when laying a cork floor.
Carpet flooring is very versatile and has a great number of styles, colors and textures to choose from. Carpet is easy to install and comes in various price ranges to fit into all budgets and lifestyles. You do need to keep up on regular maintenance which includes steam cleaning bi-yearly and spot cleaning when necessary. It is a wonderful flooring option if you have young family members who spend a lot of time playing on the floor.
Vinyl flooring is inexpensive and fairly easy to install. It does require an even clean surface for installation. The one thing is that vinyl wears down and loses it sheen quickly. It is best used in rooms that don’t receive a great deal of traffic or that wear is not necessarily a huge issue such as mudrooms and basements.
Ceramic flooring is great for the easy of cleaning and resilience. It is very strong but can be cracked if something heavy is dropped on it. Installation is normally fairly straight forward. The ceramic tiles can be purchased in various colors and is family friendly. Ceramic works well in kitchen/dining areas and bathrooms for its ability to repel the moisture that those rooms often attract.
Flooring renovation options are really a personal choice and should be made with your family in mind. If you have a pool and wet kids running in and out all day carpet and hardwood are most likely not great choices for you. However if you are a home with older children who are more careful and don’t tend to spill carpet and hardwood are great options that look beautiful and tend to hold for long periods of time under normal use and conditions.